


Glow

by DrowningInStarlight



Series: things you said that made me love you [1]
Category: Kaleidotrope (Podcast)
Genre: Fluff, Huddling For Warmth, Other, Sharing a Bed, Snowed In, things you said at 1am
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-17
Updated: 2018-08-17
Packaged: 2019-06-28 21:31:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,470
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15715470
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DrowningInStarlight/pseuds/DrowningInStarlight
Summary: Harrison had waved goodbye and gone out into the hallway a moment previously, but now he stuck his head back through the door. "Hey, Drew," he said. "Could you give me a hand? The door's stuck."Including: The snowpocalypse, Hal's kitten patterned cushions, and definitely not any demons.





	Glow

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the "Things You Said..." prompt meme, number 1) _things you said at 1am._
> 
> It feels so meta writing fan fiction tropes for Kaleidotrope, and I love it. Today I bring you sharing a bed and cuddling for warmth, because Harridrew is adorable and I've listened to the new episode about six times.

The first sign that something was up was the fact that Hal didn't show up. 

 

Drew had arrived at the radio station before Harrison did, as normal. Harrison hadn't technically been late since his first day, but he always cut it worryingly close. Drew had class directly before and not quite enough time to go home in between, so he was always awkwardly early. Normally he stepped into the editing booth to chat with Hal, to make up for relentlessly ignoring her during the actual show. 

Today, though, the booth was empty. He wandered around the radio station, but he couldn't find anyone, not even Julia, the girl who had the slot directly before him and Harrison. Surely she should still be here? 

He wasn't normally easy to scare, but there was something about the emptiness within and the rapidly building snowstorm outside that was starting to make him feel jumpy. 

He wandered around the studio once more, then froze. There were footsteps coming from the hallway. He took a step backwards, utterly abandoning rational thought, every horror film he'd ever seen running through his mind all at once. The door to the studio creaked open, and for half a second Drew was sure he was about to die. 

Then Harrison peeked round the door, snowflakes adorning his woolly hat. "Anyone home?" he asked. 

"Oh, fucking hell," Drew said. "It's you. Right, of course. Oh my god." 

"Uh... hi to you too?" 

"Sorry, I just... there's no one else here and I creeped myself out," Drew explained, waving a hand vaguely. "Thought you were a demon coming to kill me or something." 

"Aw, I would never," Harrison said. "But yeah, I don't think I've ever seen this place so empty before. I take it it isn't normal?" 

Drew shrugged. "Hal is _always_ here. I don't think she trusts me to do the show properly without her oversight." 

"She might be stuck in the snow," Harrison suggested. "Maybe she thinks I'll keep you in line?" 

"Who knows, at this point," Drew said. "Well, it doesn't really matter, I suppose, we can just do the show as normal." 

"Yeah," Harrison agreed. "But it is weird! It must be--" 

"Don't." 

"--a trope!"

"It's not a damn trope, Harrison, it's just people bunking off because of the weather," Drew snapped. "Why would it be a trope?" 

Harrison looked hurt, and Drew relented. "Sorry. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to lash out like that. I'm just on edge." 

"It's okay," Harrison said. "I get it, this is kinda weird. I just... You don't want this to be a trope?" 

"No, I absolutely do not. Was that not clear?" 

"Oh, it was. I was just... Why not? Tropes are fun." 

Drew sighed. "No, they're not. Look, it's like... Faking. Or cheating, or, I dunno, something. Something not right. And if w-- some people want to have a relationship, it should be built on something _real_ , you know? Not some magical force fucking them about." 

"Just because something's a trope doesn't mean it isn't real, Drew," Harrison said. "Tropes just... Help feelings along. Feelings that are already there." 

"I-- oh shit, look at the time," Drew said. "We're late." 

 

______ 

 

"Hello, listeners, welcome back to Kaleidotrope," Drew said, after a frantic tussle with the mics. "Apologies for the late start, things... Well, things got away from us." 

"It's the deepest snowfall Sidlesmith has had for more than ten years!" Harrison added excitedly. "Which is super cool, and I'm loving the wintery vibes. But it is making things just a _little_ bit tricky, travelling wise." 

"Understatement of the year," Drew said. "I had to wade through snowdrifts that came up to my _knees_ on the way here." 

"It is slightly ridiculous," Harrison agreed. "Like, there's romantic December snowfall, and then there's... Whatever this is. The snowpocalypse." 

"The what now?" 

"That's what people are calling it!" 

"Really? Okay, well that's enough of that. Listeners, text in..."

 

______ 

 

The evening passed gently, the edge of fear Drew had been feeling since he'd arrived finally easing a little. The studio was cosy, a safe haven against the snowstorm outside. They reached the end of their time, and Harrison made his customary comment about needing to come up with a proper sign off. Drew was quite satisfied with "Bye, listeners!" and consequently wasn't really listening. He'd already moved on to thinking about the weekend, and how he was going to do his writing, now that the campus was snowed under. On the one hand, it would make for an interesting column, he thought as he put his coat on. People out in this kind of weather would have a story to them. 

On the other hand... People might be great stories, but he couldn't think of anything more miserable than having to be out in the snow to write those stories. Well, this was going to be a _fun_ weekend. 

Harrison had waved goodbye and gone out into the hallway a moment previously, but now he stuck his head back through the door. "Hey, Drew," he said. "Could you give me a hand? The door's stuck." 

"What?" Drew said, following him down the hallway. It was a lot colder outside the studio, their breathing billowing in ghostly clouds. Harrison pushed on the door handle. 

"See?" he said. "The handle moves, but the door won't budge. You're probably stronger than me, you give it a go." 

Drew pushed on the door, but it stayed stubbornly still. He turned to Harrison. "Before I say this, I want you to promise you won't mention tropes, okay?"

"Well, I don't know if I can promise _that_ ," Harrison said, sounding a little nervous. "But go ahead." 

"So, erm... I don't think it's just that the door is stuck. I think we're snowed in." 

"Oh. Oh shit." 

"Yeah." 

"When-- when will someone find us?" Harrison asked, and he sounded panicky. Drew looked at him quickly. 

"Hey, don't worry," he told him. "We're literally in a radio station. There are plenty of ways to communicate with the outside world." 

"Yeah," Harrison said, taking a deep breath. "Yeah, you're right. I'm sorry, I just-- I don't like being trapped in places. It makes me feel claustrophobic, which is a weird thing to say because that means fear of small spaces and this isn't a small space but still, it's the same feeling, like I can't breathe properly, and..." 

"Hey, hey. It's okay," Drew said, touching his arm. "Come on, let's go back into the warm while we call someone, yeah?" 

It was at that moment that the power went out, because of course it was. There was a weird crackling hiss, and all the lights flickered out. Drew jumped and squeezed Harrison's arm by accident, but it didn't matter because Harrison grabbed him back. 

"What was that?" he asked. 

"The power," Drew cursed. "It happens here sometimes, some fuse blows or something-- I know how to fix it, but the fuse box is outside. Goddammit, Hal told me she'd got it fixed!" 

"Well, this is just great," Harrison said. If it had been cold before in the hallway, it was rapidly getting colder. 

"I know. Okay, let's go back into the studio anyway. Although... How much do you wanna bet that this snow is blocking phone signal, too? It was bad enough during the show, and the snow was much lighter then." 

"I take back every nice comment I've made about the snow," Harrison said miserably. "This is a nightmare." 

"Thanks," Drew joked. "I feel so appreciated." 

"You're definitely not part of the nightmare," Harrison said, as they went back into the studio. "In fact, you're in only thing that's making this bearable." 

"Oh. Well... Thanks. You make this bearable, too." He smiled at Harrison, but the only light was filtering in through the snow covered windows, and Drew didn't think Harrison could see. 

"There must be emergency lights or something here?" Harrison said, crouching down root through the cupboards. "Oh, look-- blankets!" 

"Typical," Drew muttered. "Hal stocks the cupboards with _blankets_ but not lights." 

Harrison sat back on his heels. "Yep, apparently so." 

"And I was right, my phone doesn't have any signal. _Great._ " 

"Someone _will_ find us before Christmas break, though?" Harrison asked. His tone was light, but he couldn't quite disguise his worry. It was a valid worry, Drew thought. The snow showed absolutely no sign of letting up.

"Yeah, don't worry," Drew reassured him. "It's Friday tomorrow, and Todd does his breakfast show on Fridays. He'll be here by eight. We won't be stuck in here forever." 

"Good," Harrison said. "Because we only have three samoas left. Want one?" 

 

One and a half samoas later, Drew realized he was shivering. "Is it just me," he said, "Or is it _really_ cold in here?" 

"No, you're right," Harrison said. "My teeth are literally chattering. Here, have a blanket-- They don't look particularly warm, but still..." 

"Hal's got cushions in the editing booth," Drew remembered suddenly. 

"Aw, yes! We can make a nest," Harrison said. He tried to walk towards the editing booth, and promptly tripped over in the dark. "Oh, shit-- that was the mic stand. Oh, god, it's caught on the blanket-- hang on a sec--" 

The mic stand wobbled dangerously, and Drew steadied it with one hand and reached down to Harrison with the other one. "What have you done, you disaster?" 

"I don't know," Harrison said helplessly. "Help me, Drewbi wan Kenobi, you're my only hope." 

"Drewbi? Never mind. Let's just go find those cushions." 

 

There were three fluffy cushions with pictures of kittens on them stacked in the corner of the sound booth. Drew had no clue what they were doing there, he'd never seen anyone actually use them before. They took them back into the studio, and Harrison cleared a space on the floor. 

"At least I don't have class tomorrow," he said, sitting down and wrapping his blanket around his shoulders. "Do you?" 

"No, thank god," Drew said. He hovered awkwardly for a moment, then sat down next to Harrison. "It's far too cold to actually get any sleep." 

"If this was a TV show or something, we'd have to share body heat to survive," Harrison said thoughtfully. 

"Would we?" said Drew dispassionately. "I think if this was a TV show or something, one of us would have been killed by the demon at this point." 

"Oh, no," Harrison complained. "Drew, why would you say something like that when we're trapped inside a dark, cold radio station? Now I'm scared." 

"Sorry," Drew laughed, as Harrison cast his eyes around the room and shuffled a little closer. "Well, if it's any consolation I'd be the first to die out of the two of us. The skeptics always die early." 

"Trust me, that is _not_ a consolation," Harrison said. "Dying last is just as bad as dying first-- it's still _dying_!" 

"Okay, good point," Drew admitted. "But there's nothing here except us, so it doesn't matter anyway. Neither of us will be murdered in our sleep." He yawned and lay down on one of Hal's kitten cushions. Harrison followed suit, and everything fell silent. 

Drew closed his eyes, and realised that now everything was quiet, he could hear Harrison's teeth chattering. 

"Are you cold?" he asked. 

"Funnily enough, I _am_ ," Harrison replied. 

"It's cold." 

"Yep." 

"Really cold." 

"Well spotted, Drew! Can we stop talking about it now? It's _not_ helping." 

"I-- okay, I just... Look, it's cold, okay? So I... Oh for god's sake." 

Harrison propped himself up on his elbow so he could look at Drew. "Are you asking what I think you're asking?" 

"I don't know, am I?" Drew asked irritably. "How could I possibly know that?" 

"Are you suggesting we cuddle to keep warm?" 

"It sounds so weird when you put it like that." 

"No, it doesn't! It's logical, people do it all the time in survival situations." 

"Oh yeah, 'cause this is totally a survival situation." 

"I don't know, it seems pretty survival-y to me," Harrison said. "After all, we are surviving, right? So it's a survival situation, technically." 

"Oh, just shut up and come here," Drew said, glad that the darkness hid his blush.

 

Harrison was warm in his arms, and Drew was torn between wishing he was anywhere else and knowing there was nowhere else he'd rather be. 

"This is cosy," Harrison said after a while, and Drew meant to answer, he really did, but sleep was so, so tempting. Harrison realized he'd fallen asleep, and smiled. "Drew, you're adorable," he whispered. "Really, really adorable." 

 

_____

 

When Drew awoke, it was because someone was poking him with their foot. 

"Uh... Drew, and other Thursday evening guy, whatever your name is... Wake up?" A voice asked, and Drew looked up to see Todd, the guy who did the breakfast show, standing over them looking concerned. "Are you two alive?" 

"I think so," Drew said scratchily, trying to avoid disturbing Harrison, who was curled up like a cat next to him. 

"Uh, good, it's just I kind of need the studio? It's nearly eight." 

"Right, right," Drew said. "Harrison, wake up. Todd, how did you get in here, anyway? We were snowed in last night." 

"Oh, you were still snowed in this morning," Todd said. Drew noticed for the first time quite how covered in snow the guy was. "I dug my way in. You should be able to get out fine, though!" 

Harrison turned over, mumbled something about fighting Santa Claus, then opened his eyes. "I... What?" 

"Wake up," Drew repeated, poking him. "Todd needs the studio." 

"Oh, right," Harrison said, sitting up. "I remember now. Snowed in, cuddling for warmth, okay." 

"You cuddled for warmth?" Todd said with amusement. 

Drew sighed. "You're not allowed to talk about this on your show." 

"No promises, man," Todd said. "Now..." 

"Yep, we're going," Harrison said. "We're going." 

 

Soon Drew was shivering in the snowy morning air. 

"It's actually quite pretty in daylight," Harrison said. 

"No," Drew replied flatly.

"Eh, understandable." 

They stood outside the radio station in silence. The snow wasn't falling any more, and the snow on the ground sparkled with morning frost. There were hardly any footprints up here, and sound seemed muffled and distant. It felt like they'd fallen into a pocket dimension, a snowy paradise world all of their own.

"So, if you don't have class today..." Harrison began tentatively. 

"I don't," Drew confirmed. 

"Would you like to hang out later? If you're not busy?" 

"I-- no, I'm not busy."

"Kishi's does the best hot chocolate I have ever tasted," Harrison said. "It's like pure bliss. We could... If you want."

"Yeah," Drew said. "Yeah, I'd like that." 

Harrison smiled. "Then it's a date!" 

"Okay," Drew said, a matching smile spreading across his face. "A date."

**Author's Note:**

> Can I just say how incredible it is to be part of fandom community were the creators are so encouraging of fanworks? It's so refreshing and lovely. I look forward to writing more for this wonderful fandom!


End file.
